the part-time po Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

The Bad Product Owner: The Part-Time PO Disaster

Ville describes a scenario where a company assigned a part-time Product Owner (PO) to manage software development. The PO’s inconsistent availability led to poor communication and a lack of feedback loops. Ville explains how this anti-pattern can derail a project and shares tips, such as scheduling regular meetings to ensure that the PO remains actively involved in supporting the team. A strong PO presence is crucial for maintaining alignment and driving product success, and Ville discusses some possible mitigating actions we can take to make sure that even part-time PO’s are available for the team.

Reflection Question:

How can you support a Product Owner who struggles with availability to ensure your team gets the guidance they need?

The Great Product Owner: The Master Communicator

In contrast, Ville shares an example of an exceptional PO who excelled at communication and collaboration. This PO consistently collected and shared feedback, held regular one-on-one meetings, and fostered a culture of transparency and understanding. Ville emphasizes that a great PO proactively builds relationships and maintains a consistent cadence of interactions to stay informed and guide the team effectively.

Self-reflection Question:

How can you support your PO so that they learn to communicate and engage with the team better?

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About Ville Reijonen

Ville is a seasoned Agilist and pattern enthusiast. He has co-authored two books—one on distributed machine control system patterns and another on Scrum patterns. Ville is passionate about discovering patterns in various contexts and currently works as a freelance coach, empowering individuals and teams by fostering focus and understanding.

You can link with Ville Reijonen on LinkedIn.

The Great Product Owner: The Part-Time PO Anti-Pattern

In this segment, Toby discusses common anti-patterns associated with Product Owners (POs), particularly the issue of them treating their role as a part-time role. Many organizations assign PO responsibilities as a secondary task, causing problems like absenteeism during critical team interactions. This particular PO, who had a full-time job outside of their role, lacked both Agile and software development experience, along with emotional intelligence. The key takeaway was the importance of PO presence and engagement with the team, with a suggestion to have them spend a full day working alongside the team to improve collaboration.

The Bad Product Owner: User-Centric Leadership, a Critical Skill For POs

In this segment, Toby discusses the qualities of a great Product Owner (PO). The exceptional PO he describes, was known for their easy collaboration with the team and their constant availability. The PO emphasized understanding before imposing their views and consistently approached discussions from the perspective of the key Personas for the product. The PO also encouraged the team to consider the system from the customer/user standpoint, this PO deeply comprehended the team’s workflow, which made collaboration easy. Additionally, they recognized the efficiency of pre-refinement in the team’s processes, and made the necessary adaptation to their own workflow.

The Ultimate Guide to Supporting Product Owners as a Scrum Master

Are you having trouble helping the team work 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 Toby Rao

Toby is an ICF-credentialed Coach and accredited IC Agile trainer, and practices as a certified Executive coach. With a dynamic Agile journey beginning in 2007, he’s an active contributor to the global Agile community. He is based in Washington DC Metro, and speaks at Agile events worldwide and co-founded the A20 Agile conference. Toby also co-founded two thriving Agile meetups in the Washington DC area, with a combined 1300 members.

Tag: the part-time po

Ville Reijonen: Overcoming the Part-Time Product Owner Trap