As a Scrum Master I work with Product Owners on a daily basis, which often puts me in a position between them and the development team. I sometimes jokingly refer to myself as the “scrum master behind enemy lines” to express this feeling. Making the PO and the developers work and think as one team is one of the most challenging tasks for the Scrum Master. Very often the developers are wary of the leading role a PO takes on and see in him nothing more than a project manager with a new name, someone that simply issues orders. So there is a clear need for appropriate and effective communication between the two parties to avoid conflicts in Product Vision, general misunderstandings and dissonance within the team.
What methods can a Product Owner apply to gain the trust of the development team and work with them as a harmonising team? Are there patterns to an appropriate communication? What kind of approach to this challenge will work best?
At the PO-Camp I got a chance to talk to many PO’s about this subject and exchange ideas on methods to improve the mechanics of this relationship. One session at the event that struck me as most relevant to this subject was about Design Thinking. This session in combination with the conversations I had with the individual PO’s as well as my own experience solidified my findings, that there are typically two different main types of Product owners, each with their own characteristics and approach.
The design thinker
Has an education in economics or human sciences, is typically very visual (e.g. use of colours) and is very oriented towards vision and high level goals. The speaking skills of a design thinker are superior and more imaginative with the ability to employ things like metaphors to bring his point across.
The engineer
Has more of a technical background possibly with experience in software development, is very focused on dues and responsibilities in his role as a PO and highly textual.
Which of the two prevails?
I personally do not see an advantage in either of the two approaches in respect to the aforementioned issues of understanding and product vision. They can both equally lead to success or failure. In my experience, it is much easier for the engineer minded PO to gain respect from the development team, since he is of the same “breed” as them. Whereas the design thinker will have it much easier to commit stakeholders to a vision, which is equally important for the success of a project. I would say both can learn from each other and the “ideal” PO would be one, that is able to dwell in both areas, with a background in a more technical surrounding, but with extended experience in project management or UX design for example.
