Fixing Your Scrum

The Part-time Product Owner

“Where’s the product owner?” We’ve asked this question many times while working with Scrum teams, and you probably have, too. It’s frustrating. The dev team wants to keep working, but they need answers from the product owner about scope. This is a common symptom of having a product owner who is only part-time.

So how do part-time product owners come to be? When the product owner role is first explained in an organization, most executives and project managers perceive it as an almighty and threatening position. The term “product owner” implies overarching ownership of a product, but traditionally, ownership of a product is spread across various roles. This consolidation of ownership can feel threatening to some people ...