Hiring: 82 Scrum Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Agile Imposters

TL; DR: 82 Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Imposters

If you are looking to fill a position for a Product Owner in your organization, you may find the following 82 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my sixteen years of practical experience with XP and Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master and interviewing dozens of Product Owner candidates on behalf of my clients.

So far, this Product Owner interview guide has been downloaded more than 10,000 times.

82 Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Imposters — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Hiring: 82 Scrum Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Agile Imposters

The Oversized Product Backlog Will Cost You Dearly — Making Your Scrum Work #11

TL; DR: The Oversized Product Backlog Problem — When Noise Interferes with Signal

There are plenty of failure possibilities with Scrum. Given that Scrum is a framework with a reasonable yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone. Neglecting the critical Scrum artifact for continuous value creation is one of the common Scrum anti-patterns. If your Scrum Team strives to make your customers’ lives easier Sprint after Sprint, beware of the oversized Product Backlog.

📺 Join me and explore the consequences of inadequate Product Backlog management in less than three minutes.

The Oversized Product Backlog Problem — Making Your Scrum Work #11 — Age-of-Product.com

Update: I am running a poll on LinkedIn—join the voting: “What reasons have you observed why Scrum Teams stuff their Product Backlogs — a very costly pattern that diminishes ROI and value creation?”

Continue reading The Oversized Product Backlog Will Cost You Dearly — Making Your Scrum Work #11

Four Scrum Master Success Principles

TL; DR: Four Scrum Master Success Principles

Contrary to popular belief, the Scrum Master success principles are tangible, when we guide the analysis with an outside perspective.

Read on and discover four Scrum Master success principles: From when not to use Scrum to product quality to supporting the Product Owner to putting self-management at the center.

Four Scrum Master Success Principles — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Four Scrum Master Success Principles

Three Wide-Spread Product Owner Failures in 6:09 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #5

TL; DR: Three Wide-Spread Product Owner Failures

There are plenty of Product Owner failures. Given that Scrum is a framework with a precise and concise yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone.

Explore with me three widespread examples of how Product Owners fail their team in three short video clips, totaling 6 minutes and 9 seconds.

Three Wide-Spread Product Owner Failures in 6:09 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #5 — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Three Wide-Spread Product Owner Failures in 6:09 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #5

Product Owner Interview Questions — The Product Backlog and Refinement

TL; DR: Product Owner Interview Questions — The Product Backlog and Refinement

If you are looking to fill a position for a Product Owner in your organization, you may find the following 71 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my fourteen years of practical experience with XP and Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master and interviewing dozens of Product Owner candidates on behalf of my clients.

So far, this Product Owner interview guide has been downloaded more than 8,000 times.

Product Owner Interview Questions — The Product Backlog and Refinement — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading Product Owner Interview Questions — The Product Backlog and Refinement

23 Product Owner Anti-Patterns from Job Ads: The Snitch, the Whip, the Bookkeeper, the Six Sigma Black Belt™

TL; DR: Product Owner Anti-Patterns from Job Ads

Like a job ad for a Scrum Master position, the equivalent for the Product Owner position also reveals excellent insight into an organization’s progress on becoming agile. Yesterday, I analyzed 60-plus randomly selected job ads from the UK, the US, and Germany for that purpose. Learn more about what makes job ads such a treasure trove with the following 23 Product Owner anti-patterns.

23 Product Owner Anti-Patterns from Job Ads: The Snitch, the Whip, the Bookkeeper, the Six Sigma Black Belt™ — Age-of-Product.com
Continue reading 23 Product Owner Anti-Patterns from Job Ads: The Snitch, the Whip, the Bookkeeper, the Six Sigma Black Belt™