Relationship of the product owner (PO) and scrum master

Relationship of the product owner (PO) and scrum master

PO and Scrum Master might seem to have somewhat opposing priorities. PO needs to get the work done through the team and Scrum Master needs to make sure that the team is taken care of and the ceremonies & the processes are adhered to.

Here are the seemingly disparate priorities:

Focus on product Vs. focus on team- PO needs to achieve the product vision in the time and cost that has been assigned to him. Scrum master needs each and every ceremony, and needs to do them well. Scrum master also needs the team to work at a sustainable pace. Sustainable pace means the team is working a normal work week, not weekends and overtime, but a normal work week. The scrum master is also saying that the team needs to focus on improving their performance as a team. Not improving the product, improving the team.

Focus on product improvement Vs. focus on processes- the PO is going to want all the features in their product that they can possibly get. On the flip side, the Scrum master wants to stick to the guardrails of the scrum framework. Every requirement and any new add-on feature needs to go through proper approval and planning process. It has to go through backlog grooming, sprint planning, definition of ready and the properly defined acceptance criteria. Nothing can be missed out.

With all this focus on the team and process, the product owner might start to get a little apprehensive about how the team is going to deliver the product.

Opposite forces create the right Balance

The bottom line is that this is healthy opposition. When we have two opposing forces pulling in opposite directions like this, the team can find a sense of balance. This is like the third law of motion: for every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. For example, when we lean against a wall, the wall exerts an equal force against us, so we don't crash through the wall. This is balance.

Scrum master and PO are the two opposing forces that keep the team in balance. This opposition should always be respectful and professional, but it should exist. The team, then, strives to attain the goals for the product, while maintaining team health. This is why a scrum produces such high-quality products, while maintaining team well-being. Add a little opposition between your PO and scrum master, and watch the team blossom. As I had mentioned in my earlier posts that the team is the heart of the scrum and it’s well being and productivity cannot be emphasized more.