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1 - Correct me if I’m wrong, but in true Agile, a product owner ought to be able to interact directly with the dev team, and vice versa, in the card/conversation/confirmation process of creating, estimating, and executing the user stories, correct?

2 - If Company “A” contracts with Consultant “A” to have software developed, and then Consultant “A” then contracts with Company “B” who then contracts with Consultant “B” to do the development, who would you define as the Product Owner?

3 - If Company “B” is barring Consultant “B” from talking with Company “A” and Consultant “B”, is Agile even possible?

Comments
  • 2
    1 - correct

    2 - I wanna say Consultant A is the stakeholder and Consultant B the product owner

    3 - why would company B be preventing their own hired consultant to contact their customer?
  • 2
    Well maybe Im wrong, but the way it was explained to me was

    Devs <-> SM <-> PO <-> Client

    PO shouldn't bypass the SM at the very least. The SM needs to be in the loop, so speaking directly to the devs should only happen with the SM present
  • 2
    @JPRBM
    the product owner should be able to know what is going on in the delivery team, but should not interact directly without the product manager for that product.
    A case where a dev job is subcontracted is doomed to fail - because no one knows who the actual client/user is, and getting the feedback will be very hard.
    Unfiltered user/client feedback is really important for a successfull agile project. Without it - you will end in failure, or a bad prototype at best.
  • 0
    @JPRBM Thanks. To answer #3, it’s because Company “B” doesn’t want Company “A” to know that Company “B” outsourced the development to anyone outside of Company “B”. They’re trying to maintain an image of being a fully-staffed company.
  • 1
    @Hazarth & @magicMirror

    You are correct, I should have clarified that dev's should not ask the PO stuff 1-on-1. But the PO is allowed to be present during backlog breakdowns, refinements, sprint planning and sprint review. Devs are allowed in those settings to ask the PO to clarify/elaborate when stuff is unclear.

    At least that is how I'm used to it. I see that as 'direct contact' between a Dev and the PO.
  • 0
    @JPRBM The reason for this, is that the PO usualy does not understand the technical side, and will conflict with the delivery team on estimates, and "what should be done first".
    But In case the PO knows how to work, you can engage, to reduce communications overhead.
  • 0
    It would help non-native English speakers when you don't use the same letter for different objects/person/companies.
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