What to do with a PO who manages, directs and controls the team

Question

I am a ScrumMaster for a team of 7 devs/qa's.

I am struggling to coach my PO / get through to my PO. On one hand he is very keen to be a PO and work in the way a PO works but he just doesn't really get that his behaviours are not helping the team become more autonomous and self-managing.

These are the behaviours which I believe is hurting the team:

• Relentless interruptions during the day. He is a very extroverted lovely outgoing guy, but all day he is coming up to developers just to say how are you doing all very positive, but very disrupting
• Relentless asking for updates. When will this be done, when will this finish
• Joining standup's and always talking during the stand-up's, always chipping in
• Getting involved in every facet of the team, from handovers when team members leaves, solution design, QA approach you name it everything
• Does not write acceptance criteria, when people ask for requirements, he says don't worry about the requirements. QA's ask for requirements, but he says not to worry. The requirements are in his head and he likes to verbalise them not capture them in jira.
• Directing the team, managing the team, micromanaging the team
• He gets very aggressive if he is not allowed to do this

In my career I would say he is the furthest away from being a Product Manager and more like a command and control manager.

What I have tried: + 1-on-1's, explaining the role and coaching + Using retrospectives which cause the team to call out the lack of acceptance criteria + Workshops getting the team and PO to understand the PO, SM and Team's roles.

Nothing seems to work

Answer 1

Here are some suggestions.

Using retrospectives which cause the team to call out the lack of acceptance criteria

The behaviours you have mentioned are all valid topics for retrospectives, not just the lack of acceptance criteria.

Also, the idea of retrospectives is not just to raise issues, but also to monitor progress towards their resolution. If the team takes actions away from a retro then it is often a good idea to review them at the next retrospective. This way it becomes obvious if progress is not being made.

What I have tried: + 1-on-1's, explaining the role and coaching

Don't just coach the Product Owner, also look to coach the team. Teach them that it is OK to push back on the Product Owner and to raise their concerns at retrospectives. It is not the Scrum Master's responsibility to solve all the problems of the team but it is the role of the Scrum Master to facilitate resolution.

It is likely that this situation will only be resolved with the whole team pulling together.

Relentless asking for updates. When will this be done, when will this finish

This behaviour and others mentioned has an impact on the output and effectiveness of the team. Report it as a part of your Sprint Reviews. For example:

In Sprint 7 we delivered lots of good value, but our effectiveness was reduced by constant interruptions of the team. It is likely that the team's output would be increased if we could improve this situation.

Keep the tone positive and emphasise that you just want to improve the team's performance.

Answer 2

I have two comments:

• Address one/two issues at a time (be incremental). This will require all your negotiation power! I suggest you to create a prioritisation list ordered on what you think it will be easier for him to let go and address each list one or two every time. I would start with what it's easier for him, because as soon as you prove your point, you'll create trust and he'll be able to budge on other more difficult things

• What I have tried: + 1-on-1's, explaining the role and coaching + Using retrospectives which cause the team to call out the lack of acceptance criteria + Workshops getting the team and PO to understand the PO, SM and Team's roles.

Here you are only exploring why you and your team think what he's doing is "wrong". You also need to also ask him and understand deeply why he thinks that what he's doing is valuable for the team(maybe combine it with one?).

Answer 3

Suggestion: pick the dysfunctions that the Development Team considers non-negotiable e.g. I would personally pick interrupting the Daily Scrum and interrupting the Developers during the working day. Then set out to firmly enforce them, while ensuring the dignity of everyone. But make it very transparent e.g. change then venue of the Daily Scrum, get some 'POLICE DO NOT CROSS' tape and delete 'LICE', etc. Make it fun for all.

Note these are impediments. The role of management in Agile is to remove impediments, so ensure you have their support. Aggressive behaviour is completely unacceptable and you should seek specific help on this.

But also come from a place of understanding. Why is the PO behaving this way? If the PO doesn't enjoy safety in their environment, can you help with their impediments?