One person for Scrum Master & Product Owner - out of necessity not desire
Hi, I work in a large organisation that has several dev teams who are trying hard to be Agile.
The dev teams are made up of PO, Tech Lead and the dev team.
Now, for brevity - this isn't going to change. I need to work with what I have.
What do you think is the best Agile practise in this situation?
All help and advice very gratefully received!
You can read the following post about this topic
https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/17899/scrum-master-and-product-…
what is your role in this situation?
Hi Ricardo, my role is Senior [hybrid PO and SM role], so I'm in a leadership role over the Agile teams.
Michael,
"I work in a large organisation that has several dev teams who are trying hard to be Agile" How exactly are they trying to be Agile? Give us a few examples, please.
"The dev teams are made up of PO, Tech Lead and the dev team." I think you misrepresented the setup. Why would a dev team be made of PO, Tech Lead and dev team? If you come to an internal agreement to follow Scrum rules, you'd have a Scrum team made of a dev team, a PO and a SM.
"Now, for brevity - this isn't going to change. I need to work with what I have." You won't have Scrum if PO and SM are coupled in one person. PO and SM are two distinct roles, and while both of them can be part of the development team itself, the two roles (PO and SM) should be covered by two people. Try identifying another setup that looks closest to your realities. Would Kanban work for you?
"What do you think is the best Agile practise in this situation?" Difficult to answer especially because we don't know the situation (we really don't - a few lines won't give the proper picture). An Agile consultant would spend many weeks, maybe months, discovering your specifics, assessing and suggesting changes, then assisting with implementation. If you don't have one, I'm afraid it's up to you to dive deep into the problems and have key people from the company involved in the (transformation) process. Good luck with the research, when in doubt, ask here.
The dev teams are made up of PO, Tech Lead and the dev team.
Now, for brevity - this isn't going to change. I need to work with what I have.
What do you think is the best Agile practise in this situation?
Regardless of whether this set-up is going to change or not, it seems you are aware of actual or potential shortcomings with the arrangement.
In terms of agile practice, what transparency have you put in place over those issues? Can you describe them? Are others in the team aware of them?
One person for Scrum Master & Product Owner (...) my role is Senior [hybrid PO and SM role], so I'm in a leadership role over the Agile teams.
but simultanously
The dev teams are made up of PO, Tech Lead and the dev team.
I still do not understand the setup. It does seem like you are a leader of some sort, and the teams are missing Scrum Masters. Or did I get it wrong?