Is Scrum applicable to projects impacting multiple business domains?

I can't imagine a single product owner being well versed in all the business domains to be able to prioritize the backlog (i.e. value). And  what if there are conflicting priorities from various departments impacted by the new work?

A Product Owner should order the Product Backlog, whether it be by priority, value, something else, or a combination of things.

Where there is conflict amongst stakeholders, a Product Owner ought to be able to resolve them, and remain representative of stakeholder interests so value delivery can be maximized. This demands a mix of proficiencies, including soft skills and a knack for evaluating complex information. Business domain understanding is not necessarily the most critical ability.

Thanks Ian.

A Product Owner should order the Product Backlog, whether it be by priority, value, something else, or a combination of things.

Where there is conflict amongst stakeholders, a Product Owner ought to be able to resolve them, and remain representative of stakeholder interests so value delivery can be maximized. This demands a mix of proficiencies, including soft skills and a knack for evaluating complex information. Business domain understanding is not necessarily the most critical ability.

I am not quite sure if in reality a single person would be able to prioritize work (rather value) to be delivered without having business domain understanding. I understand the product owner is the owner of the product and not the business domain(s) but the lack of knowledge on how the product might impact a specific domain (read stakeholder) , how would he/she make that decision to ensure right items are on the top of the list? 

I guess what you are pointing out to is: the PO should align with stakeholders of the each business domain and not necessary be equipped with that domain knowledge. That would make sense.

I am still curious to know if there are recommended tools or techniques to evaluate which agile approach (Scrum, Kanban etc.) is right and how best to make that decision?

Thank you.

Aren't these similar problems that a CEO has to overcome with regards to business strategy and budgeting?

It's possible that specific skills, context and authority are required for the ownership of this product.

Thanks Simon.

Aren't these similar problems that a CEO has to overcome with regards to business strategy and budgeting? It's possible that specific skills, context and authority are required for the ownership of this product.

I am sorry but I didn't catch the point you were making here with reference to a CEO. Are you suggesting the PO should possess the business domain knowledge or should be able to manage the prioritization even without it?

Would you mind elaborating on it?

-- Mohit

May I ask what the current situation is? Quiz!

• A. Actually, we have stopped working in lack of "ordered list of everything".
• B. Developers decide (which request is more interesting).
• C. C'mon, we are an agency, the Director decides everything.
• D. A committee does the job. They are required to respond to every request within 21 days.
• E. An IT manager applies the scream-o-meter technique.
• F. We have never thought about it but somehow the BA always flags the important requests.
• G. We have someone with extensive experience in prioritizing and a bit of domain knowledge in everything, but we call him/her project manager.

Further questions would target transparency and efficiency...

I am sorry but I didn't catch the point you were making here with reference to a CEO. Are you suggesting the PO should possess the business domain knowledge or should be able to manage the prioritization even without it?

My point is that there are several ways to be a CEO. They may have in-depth knowledge of certain business domains, or a broad knowledge overall, or often something in between. They need certain skills to manage their organization, which may have different departments or business domains competing for a greater share of the budget or for a strategy that favours specific ideals (e.g. a specific customer base, focus on new customers or reducing churn, providing a high level of service to customers, or cutting costs). They are usually in a position that if they make a decision, it is respected. A CEO almost always has authority in their own organization.

This combination of skills, context and authority allows a CEO to solve problems that are similar in nature to the ones that a Product Owner might need to solve.

So it might be necessary to hire a PO with those skills, make sure they are able to understand what is happening in the business (either because of their own knowledge, or because they can trust the inputs from others), and give them authority to make clear decisions.

It has even been suggested that a lot of the time, the ideal Product Owner is the CEO.

The PO is the owner of the Product Backlog and prioritizes the items. But it is not said that the PO needs to do everything alone. It is actually written that he has to get the stakeholders' input into the PBL.

So the PO will need to work with all stakeholders respectively the stakeholding organizations, to set the roadmap for the product and do the appropriate priorization. It is not pure SCRUM, but some also know a kind of Product Owner Team with a Chief Product Owner that actually has the responsibility for the product.

Thanks for the help guys.