Topic Title: The Beautiful Partnership of the Product Owner and Scrum Master

Initiators: Beth Galambos (PO) and Jamie Leatherman (SM) with Healthesystems

Participants: Jennifer Maldonado, Michael McGreeny, Bill Somerville, Becca Franklin, Matt Warner, Riccardo Reimers, Tami Volkert, Dominique McCarthy, Connie Pope, Lauren Reid, Travis Thompson, Seth Trainor, Daniel Bridges, Justin Hirota, Lani McDaniel, Lemont Chamblics, Albin Santiago, Christopher Martinez, Amanda Ippolito

Discussion Highlights:

• Honesty and trust play big roles in having a good relationship 
• Feedback via the team goes to the Scrum Master to relay back to the PO 
• Oftentimes, SM and PO don’t receive team feedback for each other in Retro. SM has one-on-ones with each team member to uncover issues not discussed in Retro. 
• Remind team that PO is NOT their manager! 
• Both roles need to have empathy for the team members 
• SM and PO need to be in constant communication with each other. The two of them should know things first and share them with each other first to be aligned – before sharing with the team. 
• SM and PO must be on the same page – pace of work, leadership style, trust to do their own jobs well,  and so much more. 
• MUST respect and support each other 
• Both must enforce agile principles, team agreements and any ‘rules’ – everyone on the team, including the SM and PO, must play by the rules. 
• Establish team agreements/guidelines and stick to them. Re-evaluate occasionally, and especially when new members join the team. 

Ideas for Action/Next Steps:

• Consider centralized leadership for all POs and all SMs in an organization. Then the PO manager and SM manager need to get aligned!