Value Insights Value Insights Value Insights Value Insights
  • Home
  • Trainings
    • For Individuals
      • ITIL 4 Foundation eLearning
    • For Companies
      • Our Success Model
      • ITIL
        • ITIL 4 Foundation
      • SAFe
        • Leading SAFe
        • SAFe for Teams
        • SAFe Scrum Master
        • SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager
      • Scrum
        • Registered Scrum Master (RSM)
        • Registered Product Owner (RPO)
        • Registered Scrum Master & Product Owner (RSMPO)
    • Learnify E-Learning
    • Pricing
  • Services
  • About Us
  • Blog
    • ITIL 4 Big Picture
  • Contact
  • Shop
    • Offers
    • Cart
    • My Account
  • EnglishEnglish
    • EnglishEnglish
Value Insights Value Insights
  • Home
  • Trainings
    • For Individuals
      • ITIL 4 Foundation eLearning
    • For Companies
      • Our Success Model
      • ITIL
        • ITIL 4 Foundation
      • SAFe
        • Leading SAFe
        • SAFe for Teams
        • SAFe Scrum Master
        • SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager
      • Scrum
        • Registered Scrum Master (RSM)
        • Registered Product Owner (RPO)
        • Registered Scrum Master & Product Owner (RSMPO)
    • Learnify E-Learning
    • Pricing
  • Services
  • About Us
  • Blog
    • ITIL 4 Big Picture
  • Contact
  • Shop
    • Offers
    • Cart
    • My Account
  • EnglishEnglish
    • EnglishEnglish
Oct 28

The Product Owner and the Scrum events

  • 28.10.2021
  • ValueInsights
  • No Comments
  • Agile

Outline: A short post presenting the 5 Scrum events and the importance of having (or not) the Product Owner attending those events.

  • The 5 Scrum events
  • The Product Owner and the Sprint Planning
  • The Product Owner and the daily Scrum
  • The Product Owner and the Sprint Review
  • The Product Owner and the Sprint Retrospective
  • The Product Owner and the Scrum events

The 5 Scrum events and their purpose

As per the Scrum Guide 2020 a.k.a. the Bible of Scrum, the 5 Scrum events are:

  • The Sprint – which is a container event for all other Scrum events. It is timeboxed to a month or less
  • The Sprint Planning – where the Scrum Team decides what should be done in the Sprint, why it should be done and how it should be done (at least the first few days)
  • The Daily Scrum – where progress towards the Sprint Goal is inspected and adaptation towards work planned is taking place. This event is meant for developers to collaborate and organize their work for the day and is therefore optional for a product owner to join
  • The Sprint Review – where results of the work are demonstrated to key stakeholders, feedback is sought after and decisions take place on what to do next
  • The Sprint Retrospective – where the team members inspect what went well, what went not so well and what they can improve

So what would be SOME of the consequences of not having the Product Owner in one of those events?

The Product Owner and the Sprint Planning

Sprint Planning. Not having the PO in the planning phase means that the Scrum team may not be able to set up a meaningful and/or valuable Sprint goal and would not select the most valuable backlog items to work on for the Sprint.

Anti-pattern example: Product Owner cannot join the Sprint Planning on a regular basis mentioning important issues he/she has to attend do. Developers are told that they know what to choose best given that they know the product well and to go ahead with the planning fully empowered. On the next days or so, the Product owner review the outcome of the planning and decides to change the selected items with others as it does not align with his/her views and “new” priorities. Due to frequent changes and reprioritization, team members become disengaged and demotivated.

The Product Owner and the Daily Scrum

Daily Scrum. Not having the PO in daily Scrum can lead to a loss of information and synchronization between the developers and the PO, requiring the PO to ask for status update separately to the developers or Scrum Master. However, this is the sole Scrum event which is not mandatory for the PO to join. Actually, having the PO in the daily Scrum can lead to unexpected consequences as he/she can disrupt the flow of the conversation between the developers themselves. The goal of this short meeting being an alignment and collaboration between developers on what to do for the day and progress towards the Sprint goal. It is therefore of utmost importance that this event does not turn into a status update or project report towards the product owner which is often considered (incorrectly) as a manager by various team members. If he/she participate in the event, the Scrum Master has to watch out for such anti-pattern.

Anti-pattern example: The developers consider the daily Scrum as a status update call and report their progress to the product owner in similar fashion to what would be done with a project manager. The developers are not collaborating among themselves to decide what to do next and how to tackle challenges as a team but instead ask the product owner what it is the next course of action and/or tasks that they should take.

The Product Owner and the Sprint Review

Sprint Review. Not having the PO in the review means that the team is not united in front of its stakeholders. The PO is the flagship of the product and should “stand in front of the crowd” to promote the tool and have the developer’s backs when they are being challenged while presenting increments to stakeholders. Prioritization decisions need to be justified by the product owner and feedback from stakeholders need to be taken into account .

Anti-pattern example: The PO is not joining the review or treat the review as a stage gate where he/she inspects the results of the work of the team, giving the developers good and bad points. This creates a split between the developers and the product owner ( the development team vs the PO instead of the Scrum team) where the product owner is considered a manager who does not have skin in the game but only act in pursuit of his/her own interest. Such pattern eventually lead to disengaged developers and misalignment on the product goal and what to do next.

The Product Owner and the Sprint Retrospective

Sprint Retrospective. Not having the PO in the retrospective means missing a key part for improvement. The PO brings different perspectives, information and views to the table. He/she is generally a key to solve prioritization, stakeholder management or organizational issues with or without support from the Scrum Master. Without his/her involvement, many improvements devised by the developers cannot take place.

Anti-pattern example: The PO is not joining the retrospective as it is “meant for developers” or he/she has more important priorities. Issues with the product are centered around its value, the way requirements are expressed, stakeholder management and prioritization. The developers and the Scrum Master discuss about how to address those issues which all require the PO involvement. Yet after the retrospective, those issues are never brought up to the PO nor addressed properly and the issues linger till the developers become again totally disengaged and delusional.

The Product Owner and the Scrum events

That is it for this short article – there are actually many other anti-pattern examples and reasons on why the product owner should join all the Scrum events but above are among the most commons. If you are a PO, think about the impact you are having on the developer’s morale when you are not joining the Scrum events. If you are a developer or Scrum Master, we appreciate your comments on other reasons and anti patterns regarding the PO (non) participation in those events.

We hope you enjoyed this article and please reach out to us for any question or comment you may have!

Your Value Insights team

Check out our latest blog posts


The Lean Start Up: conduct scientific experiments while doing Agile
  • Agile

The Lean Start Up: conduct scientific experiments while doing Agile

By ValueInsights / 03.02.2023
Testing the validity of a business idea in a scientific manner with the minimum amount of effort in a minimum...
Read More
The official ITIL 4 Foundation Candidate Syllabus explanied
  • IT Service Management

The official ITIL 4 Foundation Candidate Syllabus explanied

By Alexander Schmidt / 26.11.2022
The official ITIL 4 Foundation Candidate Syllabus describes the most important topics for the ITIL4 Foundation exam and explains how...
Read More
Scaling Agile Frameworks Terminology Comparison
  • Agile

Scaling Agile Frameworks Terminology Comparison

By ValueInsights / 05.09.2022
Ever wondered about the differences between the various Agile scaling frameworks out there? Well, check this post which compare the...
Read More
When you are on a project, are you doing railroad or combat planning?
  • Agile

When you are on a project, are you doing railroad or combat planning?

By ValueInsights / 30.08.2022
What are the differences you may ask and why does it matter? Discover in this post those two very different...
Read More
So what is that Scrum that everyone talks about?
  • Agile

So what is that Scrum that everyone talks about?

By ValueInsights / 17.08.2022
And that no one seems to understand you may think. Well, that short post is about explaining to you what...
Read More
5 Agile elements that you can use WITHOUT being Agile
  • Agile

5 Agile elements that you can use WITHOUT being Agile

By ValueInsights / 27.06.2022
Not everyone has the possibility to work in an Agile* team i.e. cross functional, fully allocated, self managed, iterative and...
Read More
Japanese terms in Lean-Agile
  • Agile

Japanese terms in Lean-Agile

By ValueInsights / 12.05.2022
In Lean and Agile, we love to use Japanese terms! Not only because it looks cool and smart but also...
Read More
What is the role of managers in Scrum?
  • Agile

What is the role of managers in Scrum?

By ValueInsights / 02.05.2022
After having read the Scrum guide, you may wonder what becomes of managers while using this framework. After all, Scrum...
Read More
SAFe Distilled: A short review
  • Agile

SAFe Distilled: A short review

By ValueInsights / 22.04.2022
Considering to buy the book SAFe Distilled from Dean Leffingwell and Richard Knaster? Read this short review to help you...
Read More
What are OKRs?
  • Agile

What are OKRs?

By ValueInsights / 19.04.2022
The OKR buzzword is everywhere those days... Discover in this post what OKRs are, how they are set up and...
Read More
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-Mail

About The Author

Struggling to deliver faster, stronger better? We support your Lean-Agile transformation through professional trainings and coaching. Our mission is to make better workplaces! Places where people work aligned to a common vision and goals in a sustainable and engaging manner. Places where people work for a greater good with a sense of purpose, value and mastery.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending

  • itil 4 foundation badge mock exam quiz questions answers value insights switzerland basel Are you ready to pass the ITIL 4 Foundation exam? Try our Quiz! 117.3k views | 103 comments
  • itil 4 practices overview big picture all practice axelos service management itsm value insights service value chain system The ITIL 4 Practices Overview 36.7k views | 1 comment
  • scrum product owner badge png professional certified scruminc PO agile switzerland Scrum Product Owner exam practice test questions: PSPO I, CSPO, RPO 20k views | 0 comments
  • How to get the ITIL 4 foundation digital badge How to get the ITIL 4 Foundation Digital Badge 19.9k views | 9 comments
  • prince2 foundation 2017 mock exam practice test free questions answers quiz preparation axelos peoplecert value insights switzerland agile training Ready for PRINCE2 Foundation? Check this 40 FREE sample practice exam questions! 17.2k views | 2 comments

Our Mock Exams

  • itil 4 foundation official mock exam practice questions peoplecert ITIL 4 Foundation Official Mock Exam
    Rated 0 out of 5
    CHF 60,00
  • itil 4 foundation elearning online training course official exam accredited ato organization axelos peoplecert ITIL® 4 Foundation eLearning - Basic
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    CHF 665,00 CHF 465,00
  • How to become a Scrum Master How to become a Scrum Master eLearning
    Rated 0 out of 5
    CHF 89,00 CHF 39,00
  • itil 4 foundation elearning online training course official exam accredited ato organization axelos peoplecert ITIL® 4 Foundation eLearning - Premium
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    CHF 725,00 CHF 525,00
  • 160 Professional Scrum Master I mock exam questions prepared by Value Insights, simulating the official scrum.org PSM I exam. Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) Mock Exams - 160 Practice Questions
    Rated 0 out of 5
    CHF 12,99
  • 80 Professional Scrum Master I mock exam questions prepared by Value Insights, simulating the official scrum.org PSM I exam. Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) Mock Exam - 80 Practice Questions
    Rated 0 out of 5
    CHF 8,99

Follow us on Social Media

  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • youtube

Privacy Policy

General Terms and Conditions (GTC)

ITIL® is a registered trademark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved.

value insights swiss security trust ssl certificate

“Agile by Vision – Trainers by Passion”

value insights gmbh logo transparent grey

Looking for something?

Change Currency

(CHF) CHF (Default)
  • (€) EUR
  • ($) USD
  • (£) GBP

Popular Products

  • itil 4 foundation elearning online training course official exam accredited ato organization axelos peoplecert ITIL® 4 Foundation eLearning - Premium
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    CHF 725,00 CHF 525,00
  • itil 4 foundation elearning online training course official exam accredited ato organization axelos peoplecert ITIL® 4 Foundation eLearning - Basic
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    CHF 665,00 CHF 465,00
  • itil 4 foundation official mock exam practice questions peoplecert ITIL 4 Foundation Official Mock Exam
    Rated 0 out of 5
    CHF 60,00
  • How to become a Scrum Master How to become a Scrum Master eLearning
    Rated 0 out of 5
    CHF 89,00 CHF 39,00
© 2022 Website built and maintained by Value Insights
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT