Product Owner 如何跟 Scrum Master 密切工作

2023/04/18閱讀時間約 22 分鐘

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

共同作者：Shalom Chin 與 KK；譯者：KK

你的 Product Owner (PO) 和 Scrum Master (SM) 能良好合作嗎？你的 SM 和開發人員是否將 PO 視為 Scrum 團隊的一份子？ Scrum 是以強大團隊合作為基礎的工作方式，尤其是 PO 和 SM 之間的團隊合作。

Scrum Master 有責任領導團隊交付讓客戶滿意的產品，而 Product Owner 則更負有重責為團隊指引正確的工作方向。這兩者間的關係，我們喜歡用下列的描述方式動態聯繫出來：比如：駕車去某處旅行。在這之中，PO 是規劃旅程目的地的人，而 SM 則是協調旅程中的人們，以讓他們準時到達每個目的地。另一個比喻是，在高級餐廳製作佳餚。 PO 是廚房協理，負責開發品嘗菜單，以便為客戶帶來驚喜的體驗，SM 則是總廚師長，負責協調烹飪團隊，以便創造美食。

PO 能與 SM 緊密協作，以便更好地履行職責。透過讓 SM 擔任產品駕駛艙的僚機飛行員（註1），Scrum 團隊能對於他們正在開發客戶想要的產品這件事感到有信心，並取得他們需要的用於交付更好產品的回饋。

以下是能幫助 PO 和 SM 良好協作的五個想法：

在開始 Product Backlog Refinement (PBR) 這項 Event 前，可考慮跟 SM 精煉（refine）每個 Product Backlog Item (PBI)。這是一個能讓 SM 教練以精煉 PBI 藝術的機會。讓 SM 針對即將到來的 Sprint 要討論的 PBI ，提出如何改善其清晰度和細節的回饋。倘若你的 SM 無法了解 PBI 的價值或有澄清問題，那麼 Developers 可能會遇到同樣的狀況。透過這樣的練習，你的 SM 也將更加準備好成為 PO 和 Developers 在 Refinment 活動時的橋樑，撫平其對工作的理解差距。Scrum Guide 提到「the Scrum Master serves the Product Owner in several ways, including…Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items」；所以，對於一起討論 Backlog 別感到害羞唷！
在 Sprint Planning 前，了解要討論的 PBI 和 Sprint Goal會同樣的很有幫助。由於 SM 會追踪每個 Sprint 的 Team Velocity，因此 SM 會知道團隊的潛力和當前的速度（velocity）。基於此，PO 能選擇更適合著重討論的 PBI 或 User Story，並隨之調整 Sprint Goal。在 SM 的幫助下，也能有機會將 PBI 更拆分的更小，以便能放入即將到來的 Sprint Backlog。考量團隊下個 Sprint 的 Capacity（指能拉取的 Story Points 總數），PO 能與團隊一起確認可以包在部署中的功能或項目，以便產生如 Scrum Guide 提到的「maximize the value of the product resulting from the work of Scrum team」。
若 Product Goal 和 Sprint Goal 與長期的 Product Vision 和短期期望一致，則能由 SM 身上取得第二種意見。為了彌補任何盲點，在確保付出的努力與組織目標緊密一致時，可找 SM 討論，畢竟三個臭皮匠，勝過一個諸葛亮。在合理化 Backlog 的優先順序上，SM 也可以作為 PO 的鏡子，以便排除能推遲到以後的事情。
SM 應該是了解 Scrum 團隊面臨的所有障礙的最佳人選。時常與 SM 互動，PO 可以了解 SM 的知識，以便知道一些挑戰，從而更好地制定戰略，來管理利害關係人和客戶的期望。透過 PO 在組織內的聯繫，PO 可能能夠幫助團隊應對一些挑戰。 PO 是否需要為團隊爭取更多時間？ PO 是否可以從客戶那裡得到更多的澄清說明，或與利害關係人協調一些調整？一個優秀的 PO 對利害關係人有一定的影響力，並且知道如何運用說服力來找到客戶和團隊的一致。
除了支持有效的 Backlog 管理外，和 SM 密切合作的 PO，能避免在 PO 不在場時成為團隊的瓶頸。有時 PO 會不在場（因為 PO 要度假或有緊急事件），而當 PO 不在時，SM 可以暫時充當代理人，以便幫助回答 Developers 的任何問題，以免進度中斷。讓 SM 參與大多數客戶和利害關係人的討論的 PO，能讓 SM 更好地了解客戶的需求和組織的優先順序。 SM 可以使用得到這項知識，減少等待 PO 完成工作的時間。然而，我們建議 PO 要盡可能地多多出現在團隊中，而不是讓代理人出現。

考量上述，我們希望更多的 PO 能放心地將 SM 納入他們所做的工作中，以便讓 SM 更好地了解其工作性質。這麼做將使 SM 有更好地觀點，以便了解該如何幫助 PO 在 Sprint Planning 和 PBR 活動中取得更好的進展。不只如此，SM 將能夠幫助 PO 運用知識，以便激勵團隊，並讓團隊專注在正確的 PBI 上，以實現 Product Goal。 PO 和 SM 可以一起努力為團隊消除障礙，因此 PO 能更好地管理利害關係人和客戶的期望。

補充摘錄：

你知道作為 Product Owner 能運用 Scrum Master 的知識和經驗，來幫助團隊更好地運作 Scrum 嗎？你的教練團隊運作Scrum的 SM，應該能跟你一起踏上成為更高效 PO 的旅程。在這篇文章中，我們介紹了一些說明你作為 PO 該如何向你的 SM 尋求協助的想法，以便指引團隊做出滿足利害關係人和客戶的需求。

對於PO如何與SM更好的協作方面，你有其他的想法嗎？我們很樂意聽到更多相關的資訊。

備註：

Wing Person：Wingman、僚機飛行員，飛在第一架飛機後方或在側邊的飛行員，尤指在某人嘗試接觸潛在生意夥伴時候，為其提供支援的朋友

Co-written by Shalom Chin and Kaitlyn Peng

Do your Product Owner (PO) and Scrum Master (SM) work well together? Do your SM and Developers consider PO as part of the Scrum team? Scrum is based on strong teamwork, especially between the PO and the SM.

While Scrum Masters are accountable for leading the team to deliver products that please the customers, Product Owners have as much of an important responsibility to point the team in the right direction on what to work on. We like to relate the dynamics of this relationship akin to going on a road trip somewhere with a car. The PO would be the one who plans the destinations to reach in the trip and the SM would coordinate the people on the trip such that they reach each destination on time. Another analogy would be creating dishes at a fine-dining restaurant. The PO is the culinary director who develops the degustation menu to bring an amazing experience to the customers, and SM is the executive chef who coordinates the culinary team to create the food.

A PO can collaborate closely with the SM to perform the role better. By having the SM as a wing person in the product cockpit, the Scrum team can be confident that they are building products that the customers want and get the feedback that they need to deliver better products.

Here are five ideas on the things POs can do to tap onto the knowledge and experience of SMs:

Before beginning the Product Backlog Refinement (PBR) activities, consider running through each product backlog item (PBI) to be refined with the SM. This is an opportunity to be coached by the SM on the art of refining PBIs. Have the SM give feedback on how to improve the clarity and details of the PBIs to be discussed in the upcoming sprint. If your SM cannot understand the value of the PBI or have clarifying questions, it could be that the developers will encounter the same experience. By running through this exercise, your SM will also be more prepared in bridging the gap of understanding of the work between the PO and the developers during the refinement activity. In reference to the Scrum Guide, “the Scrum Master serves the Product Owner in several ways, including…Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items”; so don’t be shy to discuss the backlog together!
Likewise, it would be helpful to walk through the PBIs and Sprint goal(s) to be talked about before Sprint Planning. Since SM tracks the team’s velocity for each Sprint, the SM would know the potential capacity of the team and its current velocity. Based on that, the PO can choose the PBIs or user stories which are more appropriate to focus on for discussion and adjust the Sprint goal accordingly. There could also be opportunities with the help of an SM to decompose a PBI further into smaller parts so that it can potentially fit into the upcoming Sprint Backlog. Taking into account the team’s capacity for the upcoming sprint, the PO can work with the team to determine the features or items that can be included in the deployment, in order to “maximize the value of the product resulting from the work of Scrum team”, as mentioned in Scrum Guide.
Having a second opinion from the SM if the product goals and sprint goals are aligned with the long-term product vision and the short-term expectations respectively. To cover any blind spot, two minds are better than one when it comes to making sure that the effort to be expended has strong alignment with the organizational goals. The SM can act as a mirror to the PO to rationalize the prioritization of the backlog to exclude things that can be postponed to a later date.
The SM should be the best person to understand the all impediments faced by the Scrum team. With constant interaction with the SM, the PO can tap into the SM’s knowledge to understand some of those challenges, thus, better formulating a strategy to manage the expectations of stakeholders and customers. With the connections that the PO has within the organization, the PO might be able to help the team address some of these challenges. Does the PO need to buy the team more time? Can the PO get more clarification from the customer or negotiate some changes with the stakeholders? A good PO has some influence over the stakeholders and knows how to use the power of persuasion to seek alignment with both the customers and the team.
Besides support in effective backlog management, the PO who works closely with the SM can avoid being a bottleneck to the team when the PO is not present. There are times in which the PO has to be away because they need to go on vacation or are out on an emergency. While the PO is unavailable, the SM could temporarily act as a proxy to help answer any questions from the developers so as not to have a disruption in the flow of progress. The PO who includes SM in most of the customer and stakeholder conversations can give the SM a better understanding of the customer’s needs and the organization’s priorities. The SM can use that knowledge to reduce any time waiting for the PO to get the work done. However. we would recommend that the PO be present as much as possible for the team instead of having proxies.

With these in mind, we hope that more POs will feel comfortable including SMs in the work that they do so that the SM has a better understanding of the nature of the work. This will give the SM a better idea of how to assist the PO in having better flow during Sprint Planning and PBR activities. Moreover, the SM will be able to help the PO to use the knowledge to motivate the team and have the team focus on the right PBIs to achieve the product goals. Together, the PO and the SM can work toward removing impediments for the team so that the PO can better manage stakeholders’ and customers’ expectations.

Extract: Do you know that as a Product Owner, you can tap into the knowledge and experience of your Scrum Master to help the team do better Scrum? Your SM, who coaches the team on Scrum, should be able to join you on the journey to be a more effective PO. In this article, we introduce some ideas on how you as a PO can seek help from your SM to guide the team to satisfy the stakeholders and customers.

Do you have other ideas on how the PO can have better collaboration with the SM? We would love to hear more about it.

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KK 說說 Scrum

這專題將分享 Scrum 的任何大小事，包含由 1993 年的第一個 Scrum team 的建構者，並且也是 Scrum 的創始者之一 Dr. Jeff Sutherland 的 Scrum 建構想法、管理思維，以及實務上確實能落地的實務方法（比如：如何建立開心的高績效團隊）等，歡迎有興趣的人訂閱分享！

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