time-management Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Konstantin Ribel: The Product Owner Turnaround With The Help of Real-Time Feedback By The Scrum Master

The Great Product Owner: The PO That Looked At Backlog Items As Investments

Konstantin describes for us a standout Product Owner with a strong business focus. This PO viewed work time as an investment, carefully considering the team’s use of their time. They treated backlog items as hypotheses, emphasizing the need for validation with real customers. Seeking feedback on these hypotheses and involving the team in refinement and customer reviews were key practices. The team’s active participation in feedback cycles played a crucial role in value creation. Konstantin also recommends organizing sprint reviews with customers for optimal product development.

The Bad Product Owner: The PO Turnaround With The Help of Real-Time Feedback By The Scrum Master

Konstantin describes a micromanaging Product Owner who controlled backlog and daily tasks, pushing the team to learn to just be passive. Despite good intentions, the PO needed guidance. Konstantin, observing from a coaching standpoint, intervened by suggesting private feedback sessions and offering real-time behavior insights. The fact that the team worked remotely made the issue even worse. But, with Konstantin’s help, the PO’s realization of their behavior marked a turning point. Konstantin advises using real-time feedback and creating a timeline of events to foster awareness and change within the team.

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 Konstantin Ribel

Konstantin drives organizational success through innovative thinking, simplifying processes, and building high-performing teams. With a strong track record in change management and process optimization, he leads agile transformations and applies systems thinking for adaptable, thriving businesses in dynamic industries.

You can link with Konstantin Ribel on LinkedIn.

Lorraine Chambers: When Product Owners Are Spread Thin, And How To Overcome The Absent PO Anti-pattern

The Great Product Owner: The Growth-Oriented PO

This Product Owner (PO) ensured every team member had a voice, fostering an environment for experimentation and ideation. They facilitated developer participation in hackathons and effectively communicated the vision and roadmap. The backlog was consistently well-organized and prioritized. The PO actively shared feedback, motivating the team. They sought opportunities for recognition and took pride in sprint reviews. This PO’s commitment extended to continuous learning and self-improvement through training, events, and meetups, reflecting a growth-oriented mindset nurtured through Lorraine’s coaching.

The Bad Product Owner: When Product Owners Are Spread Thin, And How To Overcome The Absent PO Anti-pattern

Lorraine recounts an experience with a PO that was often absent. The Product Owner was spread thin across multiple teams, leading to scheduling conflicts with scrum events. This resulted in a disorganized backlog and a lack of a clear vision. Open, candid conversations were crucial in highlighting the impact on the team. Together, Lorraine and the PO adjusted the calendar to prioritize the team’s needs. With improved availability, the team thrived. Lorraine also collaborated with the PO to advocate for more dedicated time from management.

The Ultimate Guide to Supporting Product Owners as a Scrum Master

About Lorraine Chambers

Lorraine’s vision of excellence is summed up in the words of philosopher, Lao Tzu — “A leader is best when people barely know he exists … ” She’s held several roles in the Fintech industry, including Product Owner and Quality Assurance. She’s a native New Yorker that loves travel, music and museums.

You can link with Lorraine Chambers on LinkedIn and connect with Lorraine Chambers on Instagram.

Mirela Mus: The Product Owner’s view on Leadership Impact, Priorities, and Stakeholder Management for Scrum Teams

In this episode, Mirela discussed the challenges of change management and shared valuable tips. She emphasized that change can fail for various reasons and highlighted the importance of impactful leadership to drive successful change. Mirela recommended having a supportive group of people ready to assist in the change process and showcasing examples of successful changes to the team. Collaboration with Product Owners (POs) was emphasized, as they can greatly influence team performance. The ability of a PO to say “no” to higher-ups was discussed. Anti-patterns such as a lack of priorities or structure in prioritization were identified as potential problems at the team level. Mirela provided tips on mapping stakeholders, managing relationships, and helping the PO learn to influence people. In this episode, we refer to the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Managing oneself, leveraging asynchronous work, monitoring the PM’s meeting time, and deprioritizing as a cost-cutting measure were additional tips shared in the episode.

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About Mirela Mus

Mirela is the founder of Product People, a Product Management Consultancy on a mission to help companies discover and deliver great products faster. They have 41 full-time Product Managers who help companies focus on product-led growth and/or profitability.

You can link with Mirela Mus on LinkedIn and connect with Mirela Mus on Twitter.

BONUS EPISODE: Danilo Tambone shares with us his very Agile Story of personal transformation

Danilo started as a construction project manager, but during the years he transformed himself as well as his career. In this BONUS episode we explore that process of personal transformation that makes Danilo an Agile person, not just a person that does Agile.
We hear the story of how a change in the job market presented Danilo with a challenge, but also an opportunity. Then we explore what steps he took to adopt the ideas of Agile and how he applies those ideas even today in his own personal time management system which he dubs Agile.
Danilo created a time management course to help all of us that feel overwhelmed, but want to use our agile principles in our own personal time management. Danilo introduces the course and offers you a 80% discount (!!) for the first 30 people taking his course. Check it out, go to this Udemy link to access Danilo’s course.

About Danilo Tambone

Danilo Tambone is a project management professional with 12 years of experience in the field, he is a PMP and PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner.
Danilo started his career in the Construction Industry (very different from IT), but after the discovery of the agile techniques and their successful application on the job and for his own personal productivity, he has prepared a real career transition in an agile way, and has recently started his new working life as an IT Project Management Consultant.
You can link with Danilo Tambone on LinkedIn, and visit Danilo Tambone’s Udemy profile.