Pros & Cons for being located with the development team as a Product Owner
Hi all
I have the dream, as a Product Owner, to relocate to Ukraine where the most of the development team is located.
In order to convince the business that it is an idea that will create value for the business, having me located in Ukraine instead of in the main office, I will do a "business case" on why this it is a good idea.
I therefor, want to know your opinions on the pros & cons for doing so.
Here is what I have considered so far:
Pros:
- Closer bond with developers, both professional and social
- Day to day blockers and issues can we discussed and brainstormed IRL face-to-face, whiteboard sessions etc.
- Good opportunity to learn the native language and potentially increase collaboration even more
- Having a part of the business located with the team to create a better bridge
- Overall building up a closer relationship with developers, maybe gaining more respect & ownership of the products, celebrating achievements together
- Personal and professional development for me as a Product Owner
Cons:
- Not as easy to participate in face to face meetings with customers (but it is only a 1½ hour flight)
- Less connection and day-to-day updates from business (sales, marketing, customer success)
- The practicality of relocating
I hope to get more inputs and thoughts about this idea.
Thanks in advance.
Best regards
Lucas
it is an idea that will create value for the business, having me located in Ukraine instead of in the main office
Suppose you get to the Ukraine. Will you find that the developers are co-located, or will they be working from home?
@Ian
This is of course only relevant when the COVID-19 situation allows for working from the office again.
Hopefully it will be possible again end of the ear or start next year.
But it will not make that much sense to relocate before, and then it also leaves to time to get the practical stuff in place, if I can convince the business.
A good point, thanks.
The pros you will have with the DevTeam are pros you are taking away from being co-located with the customer und business side.
So actually any pro you can add towards DevTeam is more or less a con towards business side, except personal development in learning the language and adding some additional experience in your CV. But the latter may not be important for your business
If I were a Product Owner, I think it would be more beneficial to be colocated with customers and business organization since that is my focus and contribution to the Scrum Team. Making those conversations more difficult seems to outweigh the bonding with the developers. I would try to justify some trips but those trips would be both ways. It would be equally important for my developers to meet face-to-face with the customers and business organization. I actually believe that would be more important than my colocating with the developers.
You characterized this as a "dream." So it really doesn't have anything to do with the business, the product or the team. In which case it is a personal decision and your company would need to determine, from an HR perspective, if it makes sense for them.
Thanks for inputs Tim and Daniel.
It makes sense but I also want to mention that we are about to hire a Product Specialist that will be focused towards the business and customers.
So when the role is in place if will leave me with the focus and responsibilities towards the development team, so I think this maybe will compensate for the potentially business cons down the road. But for sure, it should be considered and evaluated.
Thanks.