Student Q&A: When the Chief PO defines the Release Plan without the PO or Stakeholders w/ Jim Hayden

In this episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes we focus on a question submitted by a student from one of our recent classes. Jennifer, the student, asked about what to do when the Chief Product Owner is defining the Release Plan without input from the Product Owner or the Stakeholders. During the podcast, LeadingAgile’s Jim Hayden and Dave Prior dig into reasons why that might be happening, and how to respond. Show Notes 08:00 Interview Begins 00:46 An update on Jim and his recent motorcycle accident 03:15 Topic Introduction - What to do when you have a Chief Product Owner who is defining the release without inout from the Product Owner or stakeholders. 03:29 Explanation of the Chief Product Owner role 04:04 Jennifer’s question 04:18 Jim explains of the PO’s role with regard to the release and the role the Chief Product Owner plays 05:09 The release plan is never set 05:44 How the Product Roadmap impacts the Release Plan 08:16 What happens when you create a release plan 10:35 Wisdom from Chet Hendrickson about Release Plans 11:12 The business wants/needs the ability to make and meet a commitment for work that is valuable, usable and feasible 12:02 A tactical view of what may happen if the CPO is imposing the release plan 12:40 How Jim would respond in this situation 15:04 Should the PO expect the CPO to include them in creating a release plan? 15:52 Where things go wrong 16:30 It’s not kind of like an insane work environment, it is an insane work environment 16:58 What should the PO or the SM do in this situation and why the CPO may be pushing the release plan down to the PO and Team 19:20 Suggestions for how to retrospect with the CPO (since they aren’t included in the Scrum Team’s Sprint Retrospective 21:28 Figuring out why this is happening and how to improve communication to address the true issue 23:18 Addressing a lack of clarity about the roles 23:49 Finding a time and place to have a safe conversation with the CPO 24:23 Jim’s parting words of advice on the issue 24:40 Don’t be an order taker 24:50 Having patience and empathy for the CPO 25:40 Where you can send questions we will use in future podcasts 26:20 Podcast ends Contacting Jim You can reach Jim on the LeadingAgile site at http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/jim-hayden/ Email: [email protected] Contacting Dave You can reach Dave on the LeadingAgile site at http://www.leadingagile.com/guides/dave-prior/ On Twitter at http://twitter.com/mrsungo Or on his personal site at: http://drunkenpm.net Feedback/Questions If you have comments on the podcast, or have questions for the LeadingAgile coaches that you’d like to have addressed in a future episode of LeadingAgile’s SoundNotes, you can reach Dave at [email protected] LeadingAgile CSM and CSPO Classes For information on LeadingAgile’s upcoming public CSM and CSPO classes, please go to: http://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/ Use the discount code: LA_Podcast to receive a 15% discount on the class.