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 in management who are comfortable with the way things have been done in the past.

We frequently see this initial negative reaction to the PO role in companies where the role is a new concept. The skill set is unique and unlike anything that has previously existed in many organizations. Management’s natural inclination is to make it a part-time job that’s added to the duties of someone with lots of decision-making authority. That’s the easy thing to do: Rather than cutting through HR red tape to create a new role or seemingly diminishing the management responsibilities of a bright executive, it becomes an added responsibility for someone. That person becomes a part-time product owner.

Another way a part-time product owner can emerge is if a person on the Scrum team discovers that he or she has in effect become the product owner because no one else has authority to do the job. This can happen when management doesn’t explicitly name a product owner—and they may not know that they need to. Unfortunately, this default product owner is undoubtedly way too busy to actually do much of the work required of a PO.

The part-time product owner makes every attempt to be there for the Scrum team, but the 10% of time allocated for that role drops quickly to 5%. This person still has a day job plus this new PO gig. The product owner makes it to sprint reviews and is sometimes thrilled and sometimes surprised by what he sees or hears. Sprint retrospectives just aren’t as important as budgeting meetings, executive reviews, or putting out personnel fires. Attending the first half hour of sprint planning is all he can afford, but the team’s got this, right?

This isn’t a recipe for success. The Scrum master and development team often fill this product ownership vacuum. With a part-time PO, you’re deciding that it makes sense to ask developers to decipher what’s the next most valuable thing to put into the product, answer all the “when will it be done” questions from eager stakeholders, manage scope, and keep the product backlog up to date.

You don’t want developers doing this kind of work. They should focus on figuring out how to deliver high-quality products. A development team that’s distracted by PO-type work is an impediment that you need to address.

Having a part-time product owner hurts everyone. Stakeholders need a single person who is available to them. The team needs a person who they can have conversations with and who manages the product backlog. Customers need someone focused on maximizing the value of what is delivered to them. It’s a full-time job. If the product owner role isn’t one person’s single focus, your customers will pay the price.

The products that you’re building are adding value to your company and keeping it in business. The product owner is the single most important person on a Scrum team when it comes to making sure customers are satisfied. Is keeping your company in business only worth a portion of someone’s time?

To combat Part-time Product Owner Syndrome, think of the product owner as an Agile product manager. Grab the existing product owner and, together, brainstorm what duties an agile product manager should perform in your organization and with customers who are outside the bounds of the Scrum framework. Here are a few possible examples:

• Evaluating competitor products
• Assessing customer information
• Building a road map
• Managing the budget
• Implementing value-based metrics
• Gathering stakeholder opinions

Discuss the duties you come up with, and note which ones the PO isn’t able to complete because of their time constraints. Present this information to whomever manages the part-time PO. (Make sure the PO is with you and is actively involved in this meeting.) Create urgency around the need for a full-time product owner by discussing all the activities that aren’t being addressed because of the time constraints your part-time PO faces.