Should (or not) the Product Owner attend the Daily Scrum
Hello everybody,
in the Agile book by Roman Pichler, it is recommended that the Product Owner attends the Daily Scrum, for several reasons: it literally mentions: <<it is a great opportunity to understand the progress being made and to see if the team needs help>>.
The Scrum guide does not explicitly forbid the Product Owner from attending the Daily Scrum meeting, but it mentions a sentence that is not as explicit as the Pichler's one and perhaps slightly contrasting. Specifically, the guide says <<The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute time-boxed event for the Development Team to synchronize activities and create a plan for the next 24 hours.>>
In the guide, how should the "for" be interpreted? "For" any beneficial outcome the meeting can bring to the Development Team? Or "for" attendance of the Development Team. The former seems more inline with agile principles, but the latter appears more immediate language-wise (at least for non-native English speakers).
In the case of the latter, do you see any conflict with the Pichler's statement? Or is there a way out interpretation to this?
Many thanks,
Dan
The Guide says:
"The Scrum Master enforces the rule that only Development Team members participate in the Daily Scrum."
Therefore there is a clear rule forbidding a Product Owner from "participating". Why do you think that is, and what might it imply for a Product Owner's "attendance"?
My "best practice" has been to extend the invitation to the Product Owner to attend Daily Scrum meetings as a non-participant (i.e. - fly on the wall). There is benefit to both Product Owners and other Stakeholders to listen in on team conversations regarding the current sprint work.
I like the analogy of sitting at the chef's table in a restaurant. You can observe and listen to how your food is being prepared, but in no way are you commenting on what you see in the kitchen or making suggestions on how to make the meal. You are simply a silent observer.
It is up to the Product Owner whether they want to attend or not, but it should be made very clear that the Daily Scrum is solely a team meeting for their benefit only. It provides them a regular recurring opportunity to touch base and communicate progress on the sprint items.
Hope that helps.
Hello Ian and Timothy,
thanks for sharing your views / points. On my side, it was mainly to double-check / receive feedback on it. The assessment pages suggest the book "Agile Product Management with Scrum" by Pichler, who I noticed is involved in the Scrum Alliance.
The book is useful and provides some insights, but there are also "traps" like these too - and I thought that sharing it may help other PSPO I would-be as well.
Thanks!
Daniele, definitely look to the Scrum Guide first.
Related article about that:
http://www.scrumcrazy.com/Best+Practice+-+Look+to+the+Scrum+Guide+*First*
Daniele, good question. I believe that this changed in the last revision of the scrum guide. Before, the PO was to attend the Daily Scrum. Roman Pilcher might have based his material on this.
General reasoning I have read for this change is: the PO should know what goes on in the dev team, how he does it is up to him. And yes, he tends to have a busy schedule, so should not limit himself when searching for a timeslot in a stakeholder's calendar