Scrum Masters Could Benefit From Learning More Product Management

Co-written by Shalom Chin and Kaitlyn Peng.

In a world where “products” are becoming more prevalent, it would help the Scrum Master (SM) to learn more about product management.

As someone who understands the customer, the Product Owner (PO) has an important responsibility in prioritizing the work that represents value to the customer.

Generally, in many countries, a product manager would play the role of the PO in the Scrum team. The role of the SM is that of a leader to rally the team towards the product goal of satisfying the customer. They do this by employing different forms of leadership such as servant leadership, inspirational leadership, and goal-oriented leadership.

A strong collaboration with the PO is key to the team's success to establish the team's goals and focus. Instead of leading the team against the PO, the SM should lead with the PO.

Here are some reasons why we believe learning about Product Management would help Scrum Masters be better at what they do:

1. By understanding the PO's work, the SM would develop more empathy toward the PO to provide better help. An SM who understands the role of the PO will be able to relate better to the thought process of the PO and the pressures faced in the role. This is an important ingredient needed for the SM to connect with the PO as well as relate to their frustrations in managing stakeholders and customers.
2. For the SM to help the PO better, such as managing Product backlog or coaching PO work effectively, it would help for the SM to have experienced a stint as a PO. Experience in PO work would be useful in giving the SM a sense of the challenges faced in understanding different types of customers and the contributions of the PO to the team. An SM with product management experience can better predict the consequences as well as know the reasons behind the ordering of the backlog along with the costs that come with the PO’s decisions in relation to the product and the customers. Better advice can be rendered as a result.
3. As Product Management is closely related to the field of user experience (UX), SMs with a product management background can better understand the importance of understanding the customer’s and stakeholder’s perspectives. The SMs with a genuine interest in their customers and stakeholders will be better positioned to manage the expectations and demands to fit the team's delivery capabilities. By understanding the customer’s needs, the SM can identify how much of the work done truly brings value and deliver business outcomes, so that none of the efforts goes to waste. Having product management experience would give the SM more appreciation of the importance of feedback from the customers to also measure innovation and value created by the team, instead of focusing solely on the speed of delivery and removal of impediments.
4. Experience in prioritizing the backlog will give the SM an additional advantage in knowing how to share practical techniques with the PO in determining if the items in the backlog are in the right sequence and with the highest value in mind. By understanding the goals of the product, SMs can scrutinize the backlog for items that could potentially be unclear and hinder progress during Sprint Planning. Referencing the Scrum Guide, the SM is “helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items”.
5. Product Management experience gives SMs a better understanding of the impediments that come with developing products. The experience exposes SMs to see another perspective of the PO’s challenges in terms of stakeholder dynamics, customer demands, resource scheduling, budgeting, regulations, and data gathering. Understanding the nature of these challenges would give the SM a deeper understanding of the different potential impediment types as well as some ideas on how to address them. SMs would be able to identify how to work closely with the PO to collectively resolve these issues.

We hope that these points will encourage more Scrum Masters to diversify their knowledge and take an interest in product management so that they can be more impactful. Scrum needs team members to collaborate effectively, especially the SM and PO.