Eat my Hammer - #Scrum #ProductOwner

Hey Hive Brain,

So, for whom that is just joining; Hey, I am Orily Shefler I have been working as a software project manager for the past six years, and here I share what I have learned and accumulated about Agile Knowledge; 

Since 2016 all of my projects no excuses had the process of Scrum incorporated in them, some used "dry" scrum and some used Scrum while integrating other methods and tools with it. SrumBan, Scrum+XP, Scrum in Teams, Scrums of scrums, etc...

At this post I would like to carry on with the same tread on flow of the last article where I emphasize our conversation around the Scrum Personas. Scrum, as it is, has 5 Roles playing in the process, but not all roles are problematic.

For the roles playing the scrum game and Scrum master zoom in check my previous article The Scrum is strong with you | LinkedIn

Today will be zooming in to:

Product Owner

So, basically as I see it the Product Owner is Jane foster holding Thor hammer or more simple - the bug guy holding the hammer... 

As opposed to what many tend to believe, S/He is a Person not a Group ... There could be many product managers but only one product owner. The product manager could be BI, project managers, you name it. crucial to understand that the product owner is a single ownership role with a very clear statement, and he OWNs the product backlog end to end no exceptions!

I know it could be a bit confusing so let's sort it out; Product backlog is the big picture, the Product owner builds and attends to update regularly; from that product backlog, the sprint backlog is been drown and built by the team who will develop the next sprint.

I learned that it is not an easy task for the product owner to build, groom and maintain their Product backlog (It can become monstrously large); This is where the #scrummaster / #agilecoach can come to aid of a friend and help with building the process so it will be as simple as possible with structured steps #agile enough to contain the process of the product owner.

S/He is the only one authorized to cancel a Sprint after it has begun, S/He is the only one who is authorized to green light the product increment developed in the sprint. 

Ohh and also, S/He is the representative of your company's customers so… listen to this personas questions and requirements very carefully. Each Why is carefully asked

S/He is all about knowing the market competition and needs, calculating the precise matrix that will bring more customers to your company and crush the competing companies.

This is my personal view of a Product Owner summarize in Scrum:

1. S/He is the Business representative authorized decision maker as he has knowledge of the business needs.
2. S/He is the one holding the hammer AKA: S/He Controls the Product backlog and release plans.
3. S/He Balance the Iron triangle of Budget, Time, and Features.
4. S/He is committed to the scrum team by taking responsibility for the project.

So as tradition I will leave you with a question i have delt with in the past:

In the case of Scaling Scrum, we have multiple personas and teams scattered all around the world (for the sake of the question over 254 personals), how should it be managed productively?

1. Each team has a different Product owner with a dedicated product backlog
2. Each team has a different Product owner with the same sprint backlog
3. Each team has a different Product manager with a dedicated sprint backlog
4. Each team has the same Product manager with different product backlog

Think you know the answer? share your answer and let's develop a conversation about it :)