A Satiation i normally face during projects in my real life whether it’s OK for a team to have more than one product owner. And, if they do, what can a good ScrumMaster do about it? this Question is asked by Mike Cohen as well on his website. i found answer very logical and reasonable.
Quite simply: No, a Scrum team should not have more than one product owner.
Normally when a team has more than one product owner what they really have are multiple stakeholders. That is, two, three, four or more individuals who each have an interest in what the team builds. And usually the business has been unwilling to make one of those individuals the product owner and therefore solely in charge of prioritization decisions.
When the organization fails to make that decision, it forces the team to decide. This is entirely unfair to the team. If the organization cannot decide which one of multiple stakeholders should be the ultimate prioritization decision maker, how can the organization expect the team to make that decision?
When a decision cannot be made, it should be pushed up the organization, not down.
So, what you should you do if you’re a ScrumMaster and find yourself in the position of having multiple product owners?
Do not take on the responsibility of being the product owner yourself. Many of us are very willing to take on responsibilities that are not our own. When we do that, we run the risk of hiding an organizational dysfunctionality.
So, don’t do something like tell each of three stakeholders that they each get one-third of the team’s time. Doing that has made you the product owner, and you’ve just somewhat arbitrarily decided that each stakeholder’s needs are equal.
So Keep your Self Calm and Scrum ON :)
Quite simply: No, a Scrum team should not have more than one product owner.
Normally when a team has more than one product owner what they really have are multiple stakeholders. That is, two, three, four or more individuals who each have an interest in what the team builds. And usually the business has been unwilling to make one of those individuals the product owner and therefore solely in charge of prioritization decisions.
When the organization fails to make that decision, it forces the team to decide. This is entirely unfair to the team. If the organization cannot decide which one of multiple stakeholders should be the ultimate prioritization decision maker, how can the organization expect the team to make that decision?
When a decision cannot be made, it should be pushed up the organization, not down.
So, what you should you do if you’re a ScrumMaster and find yourself in the position of having multiple product owners?
Do not take on the responsibility of being the product owner yourself. Many of us are very willing to take on responsibilities that are not our own. When we do that, we run the risk of hiding an organizational dysfunctionality.
So, don’t do something like tell each of three stakeholders that they each get one-third of the team’s time. Doing that has made you the product owner, and you’ve just somewhat arbitrarily decided that each stakeholder’s needs are equal.
So Keep your Self Calm and Scrum ON :)
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