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Must constrain Product Owner to 1 person?   Message List  
Reply | Forward Message #36389 of 42646 |

Hi, Everyone!

I’m working with a customer that is new to Scrum.  So far, they’re very eager.  We had and extended lessons learned last week on a very tough 1 ½ project, and they see Scrum as the answer to their prayers.  Their manager has read /Agile Project Management with Scrum/, and one of their team members is halfway through it.

However, the manager has asked for a meeting with me later this week regarding “who will be the Product Owner.”  I think his team is pushing him to share that role among all of them—or at least 3 of them (himself and two others).  So, my question is, how well does it work to share that role across two or more people.  Does it ever work well?  If so, what is required for it to work well?  What kinds of things do you see happen?

-- Jean

 

Jean Richardson, PMP, CSM

ITIL Foundation Certified--Service Management

Azure Gate Consulting

c: 503-788-8998

 
Mon Feb 9, 2009 3:04 pm

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pdxtigerlily
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Forward 		Message #36389 of 42646 |
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Hi, Everyone! I’m working with a customer that is new to Scrum. So far, they’re very eager. We had and extended lessons learned last week on a very tough... 		Jean Richardson
pdxtigerlily
Offline Send Email 		Feb 9, 2009
3:04 pm

It seems to me that the role of the Product Owner is fundamentally to be THE main decision maker on behalf of the Users and Clients. That is not to say, I...
Roy Morien
roymorien@...
Send Email 		Feb 9, 2009
3:22 pm

This raises an interesting problem as we moved towards service-oriented architectures. There is no single "product"! In the stovepipe world, one can easily...
woynam
Offline Send Email 		Feb 9, 2009
5:49 pm

Hi Jean, We had a similar experience with a client. Only in this case, the client team already had the product responsibilities being shared with 2 ...
Aditya
adorable_dev...
Offline Send Email 		Feb 9, 2009
3:24 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_by_committee "A camel is a horse designed by committee." In this situation, there's no reason not to have all the members...
Nigel Baker
nidge1977
Offline Send Email 		Feb 9, 2009
5:01 pm

I agree with Nigel and depending on the size of your organization one might setup a group of people being responsible for grooming the product backlog (keep it...
Jurgen De Smet
jurgendesmet
Offline Send Email 		Feb 9, 2009
11:22 pm

... Hi, Jean, Yes, this can work fine and spread the workload among the three. It can also be a disaster. I've seen both. Do they all share the same vision...
George Dinwiddie
gdinwiddie
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
12:00 am

Well, the most important aspect of the PO is that he/she is the single, wringable neck accountable to the stakeholders for the success of the team. This is...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
8:25 am

... There's an asymmetry here that I'd like to address. For the team, we seem to be able to self-organize and share accountability. We accomplish this by...
Joakim Karlsson
klent_intellekt
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
9:33 am

This is an interesting question. I didn't say that we couldn't have a team of POs, I just said it is hard. Therefore, I recommend against it for new teams. If...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
4:32 pm

... I'm not sure what that external accountabillity means in practice. Does it help us create a better product? Regards, Joakim Karlsson ...
Joakim Karlsson
klent_intellekt
Offline Send Email 		Feb 11, 2009
8:19 am

Yes. Discuss... Dan Rawsthorne, PhD, CST Senior Coach, Danube Technologies dan@..., 425-269-8628...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 11, 2009
8:42 am

Hi Dan: I don't think that is right. PO trust various people to give the right input. If they don't, how come PO is responsible. Let me give you an example :...
Vikrama Dhiman
vickydhiman
Offline Send Email 		Feb 11, 2009
8:52 am

Hi Vikrama. I think your question is too simple, it thinks of the SEO improvement holistically, but Scrum works in Sprints. I doubt that all the...
Simon Kirk
sikirkgb
Offline Send Email 		Feb 11, 2009
10:44 am

Well, just a quick analysis of that statement. If the SEO Head receives the outcome of the development activity and that is successful (ie: according to what...
Roy Morien
roymorien@...
Send Email 		Feb 11, 2009
1:01 pm

Of course. First of all, you're mixing up responsible and accountable again (common problem). And, the team's PO is accountable for the quality of the actions...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 11, 2009
3:18 pm

I certainly can't argue with that. However, doesn't this bring up an interesting dichotomy for Scrum? If the PO is the single ringable neck from the...
woynam
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
2:47 pm

There might be. Some of the newer writings by Ken seem to indicate that the SM is also a single, wringable neck - but for the team's ability to be a team......
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
4:35 pm

The single wringable neck for the product... not team :)) ... Bas...
Bas Vodde
basvodde
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
6:14 pm

Not again, Bas :) Dan Rawsthorne, PhD, CST Senior Coach, Danube Technologies dan@..., 425-269-8628...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
6:54 pm

1 person is the way to go - 1 with the final word. Have seen shared responsibility fail in several cases - organisations and people are not mature to handle...
Mattias Skarin
i92matsk
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
9:00 am

... I am having the exact same issue. In my case, the client insists that their business is so unique and their product is so large, that we have to have two...
banshee858
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
2:36 pm

Hello, banshee858. On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, at 9:36:22 AM, ... Track all issues caused by this setup, in terms of lost time. Ron Jeffries ...
Ron Jeffries
ronaldejeffries
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
2:43 pm

Do the two POs report to the same person? Two can function only as long as they agree. If they disagree, then ultimately someone has to have the tie breaking...
woynam
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
2:49 pm

... They do report to one person. My concern is they will go off into different directions. Carlton...
banshee858
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
3:55 pm

That's not unexpected. If it happens, it has to be recognized, and brought to the attention of the supervisor, who will then be responsible for making a...
woynam
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
4:02 pm

In my opinion, this really doesn't matter too much. The direction, from the team's perspective, is defined by the backlog. Make sure you have good definitions...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
4:36 pm

... They do report to one person. My concern is they will go off into different directions. Carlton...
banshee858
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
3:55 pm

I always have a simple answer to "who will be your product owner". I just ask "who are you holding accountable for success? Who has the bullseye on his back?...
Dan Rawsthorne
drawstho
Offline Send Email 		Feb 10, 2009
4:32 pm
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