The Great Product Owner: The Product Owner as a Team Player in Agile Teams Kevin highlights the qualities of an exceptional Product Owner who excels in communication, provides clear context, and uses inclusive language like “us” and “we”. This PO effectively conveys the product vision, fosters team collaboration, and ensures everyone understands the impact of … The post Kevin Hoey: The Product Owner as a Team Player in Agile Teams appeared first on Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast. Kevin Hoey: The Product Owner as a Team Player in Agile Teams was first posted on July 26, 2024 at 10:05 am. ©2019 "S ..read more

Kevin discusses the constant nature of change in the scrum master role, highlighting the challenges of working with external stakeholders who often revert to command-and-control under pressure. He stresses the importance of coaching stakeholders on agile principles, prioritizing high-value items, and showing progress every sprint. Kevin shares tips on managing scope, meeting deadlines without compromising quality, and the value of incremental delivery to reduce risk and extract value. Want to Improve Your Change Management Results? Discover the Lean Change Management Approach Today! As Scrum M ..read more

Kevin describes a team struggling with collaboration, where members worked in isolation and did not work towards a sprint goal. This led to over-the-wall work handoffs and blame in the team. Kevin emphasizes the importance of having cameras on during remote meetings to foster team connection. He shares that effective scrum masters unlock team productivity by focusing on people first, ensuring everyone is aligned and engaged in their work. Featured Book of the Week: Drive by Dan Pink Kevin shares that his greatest influence isn’t a book, but the Agile podcasts such as this one and others. As a ..read more

Kevin reflects on his early career, sharing a time when his team of 12 struggled due to an anti-pattern of splitting stories by roles, causing an eight-week delivery delay. Kevin recognized the issue and initially approached the team with a focus on adherence to the Scrum guide, which didn’t resonate. He later revised his approach, explaining the benefits, and managed to persuade the team to deliver one story in one go, although unsuccessfully at first. Through continuous effort, he introduced better story splitting, quick deliveries, and built trust with stakeholders, boosting team morale and ..read more

The Great Product Owner: Team Collaboration and Setting a Clear Product Vision, Two Critical PO Skills In the great PO segment, Stella highlights an exemplary Product Owner who, despite lacking deep technical knowledge, developed a clear vision and strategy for the product and communicated it clearly to the team. This PO regularly collaborated with subject matter experts and held frequent calls to align with team members on the roadmap. By fostering a shared product vision, this PO exemplified effective leadership and teamwork. The Bad Product Owner: Engaging the PO to Create Clarity and Purpo ..read more

In this episode, Stella explores the complex definition of Scrum Master success, focusing on team dynamics, agile principles, and sustainable delivery. She emphasizes transparency, ownership, and continuous improvement. Stella shares her approach to building self-organizing teams and measuring success through delivery metrics and team well-being. Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Start/Stop/Continue Retrospective Stella’s favorite retrospective format, Start/Stop/Continue, is simple yet powerful. Stella tweaks the format to always start with a gratitude exercise, setting a positive t ..read more

In this episode, Stella talks about her experience transitioning multiple teams from another system into JIRA as their work management tool. In this story, Stella emphasizes the challenges that any change can bring, even a simple tool change. Teams were initially resistant, fearing the new tool would disrupt their work. Stella highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement workshops, pilot projects, and finding tool champions. She provides practical tips on gaining leadership buy-in and establishing clear feedback loops. How can we effectively manage tool transitions in agile environments ..read more

Stella shates the story of a high-stakes project team plagued by blame-shifting and management interference. The project’s tight deadlines and high complexity led to fear and blame culture in the team. Upon investigation, Stella became aware of some customer agreements made without team input. To overcome these anti-patterns, Stella’s strategy involved separate retrospectives for different groups and resetting customer expectations. Listen in to learn about fostering a blame-free culture and aligning team and customer expectations. Featured Book of the Week: Atomic Habits by James Clear Stella ..read more

Stella talks about her journey from project manager to Scrum Master, revealing how she struggled to balance both roles. She learned the critical difference between the two, focusing on trust and empowerment for her teams. When it comes to a critical lesson she learned in the process, Stella talks about a developer who resisted support, highlighting the importance of early intervention and effective 1:1s. What can we learn from her transition and the lessons on team support? The inspiring story of how a failing hospital turned things around with Agile and Lean Recovering from failure, or diffic ..read more

The Great Product Owner: The Power of a Positive Product Owner in Agile Teams In this segment, Esther shares an inspiring story about a Product Owner who truly excelled in his role. This PO was a student who brought enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, and a supportive attitude to the team. Esther discusses how his positive energy and eagerness to help had a ripple effect, boosting the team’s morale and performance. The Bad Product Owner: Customer First, How to Avoid PO’s from Focusing on Technical Details In this segment, Esther shares how Product Owners who come from a technical background ca ..read more