First-Time Remote Product Owner: Lessons learned from pandemic era
Back in March 2020 when the pandemic hit my country, like millions of people worldwide, I was forced to work from home. As a first-time remote working Product Owner, I was so afraid of the new condition.
‘How can I fulfill my responsibilities while I’m away from the team?’ and ‘how can I keep the refined Product Backlog pipeline fresh that would help the team to keep its momentum?’ were my two main concerns that I lived with for a while.
The reason that made me anxious was the fact that my Scrum team had transformed successfully from a newly Scrum-adapted to an empowered, self-organized, and autonomous team as we were all in the maximum 20-meter distance.
However, on a subconscious level, I just accepted the new reality, rather than fighting it. And as a result, things went way better than I anticipations!
In the next few paragraphs, I wrapped up some of the lessons learned during the lockdown days.
New Condition, New Me!
Never underestimate your ‘power of adaptability’. The ability to quickly grasp the change and adjust ourselves is a survival skill that has been embedded into us.
In turbulent conditions like the Covid era, the Product Owner should just evoke the adaptation skill that we inherit from our ancestor's survival story, and combine it with the required ‘proactiveness’ of the Product Owner’s role. Being ‘proactive’ is one of the main characteristics of a Product Owner that lets them create or control a situation rather than just responding to the aftermath.
Such a combination gives the Product Owner the ability to expand the circle of influence in the surrounding environment, and then focus the effort on the things that can be changed. Such an approach enables the Product Owner to subordinate the impact of the constant moving environment to a certain ‘value’.
To turn the ‘adaptiveness’ and ‘proactiveness’ into reality, the following two steps should be taken.
- First: Realizing the change,
- Second: Adapting to the new reality and make change
Realize the change
The first step toward adapting to the new condition is to realize the changes and accept them.
Answering questions such as ‘What has been changed?’ and ‘What is exactly different from the way I used to?’ can be the door-opener to grasping the new circumstances. Let’s review what had been changed in my work routine during the working-from-home period.
1 — No physical access to the people
Working remotely means no physical access to the people, which in turn means no hints on a 1-on-1 coffee machine chat with an experienced colleague, or even no chance at going over someone's desk and desperately ask for help.
Such human interactions, even small, can light up the Product Owner’s mind when there’s ongoing chaos up there.
2 — No facial expression
Talking face to face with a person, you can detect enthusiasm, boredom, or irritation very quickly in the expression around the eyes, the set of the mouth, or the slope of the shoulder.
However, in the pandemic era, often the limited internet bandwidth forces us to hold meetings as voice calls. In such a condition, the meeting dynamic is merely focused on the voice.
In the voice call, the speaker’s words convey only a fraction of the message and this limits the ability to realizing whether the Product Owner’s message is delivered or comprehended in the right way.
3 — Limited access to the key people
While working remotely, the key people have become more and more occupied with virtual meetings, and as a result, there’s less chance to get access to them while there are important things to clarify or discuss.
4 — Whole day meetings!
Being in 4 or 5 meetings a day is not something unusual in the Product Owner’s work routine. However, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the remote work has just doubled it.
Such a situation brings the Product Owner to a point to just sit and think for a second: ‘ when can I find the proper time to actually work? ’
Adapting to the new reality and making the change
After realizing the changes, there comes the time to begin adapting to the new reality. While staying home and working in your pajamas, there is plenty of room to extend the circle of influence.
To some extent, there’s nothing that we can do about not having physical access to the people in the pandemic era.
Nevertheless, as we get virtual access to them, some skills can utilize such a chance to the max. Keep in mind that the following points are something that I also utilized during the pre-COVID era. However, their impact during the remote working manner has become significant.
1 — No second chance
On a busy day, getting access to the key people is just a matter of luck. So, you should be sharp and keen on seizing the precious chance. Two things to remember:
- First, always have your priority list before starting the conversation, focus on them, and do your best to come out with some results.
- Second, never waste the precious chance by multi-tasking like checking out your emails or Slack.
2 — Listen carefully
As mentioned above, the luxury of having a video conversation with the team or stakeholders is limited. Therefore, being a good listener is a key to gathering all the required outcomes from a conversation.
- Voice is a non-verbal cue and tonality can tell you thousands of untold words. It can reveal how confident the speaker is about the topic. So, never hesitate to ask questions and clarify things, since it can have mutual benefit for both the Product Owner and the speaker.
- Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying. Allow your mind to create a mental model of the information being communicated.
- When listening for long stretches, concentrate on and remember keywords and phrases.
- When it’s your turn to listen, don’t spend the time planning what to say next. Just focus on what the other person is saying.
3 — Be sure you are understood correctly
My main challenge during a virtual meeting is to be sure that my message is being well-delivered and understood.
People are in casual home condition and can be easily interrupted by anything such as children crying or a dog barking. The speaker often does not have control over these things, although many techniques can be implemented to ensure that people understand you.
- Focus on value, not features
Always begin the conversation with the use cases. Focus on the value instead of scratching monologue about the feature. Let the team understand what is their impact on customers’ lives, how they are influencing something important. - Use analogies to make concepts clearer
An analogy involves explaining an unfamiliar concept in terms of a familiar one. Imagine drawing an analogy between a firewall and a bank teller! You could say that people don’t just go directly into a bank and take money out. They go to the teller and identify themselves; the teller makes sure they have enough money, and then the teller gives them the money. Similarly, a firewall ensures that people who want access to a system, are really permitted to have that access. - Compare new concepts to familiar ones
Use a familiar or existing product as a comparison. If you’re explaining a new release of a software product, the comparison is easy. Simply discuss the additional capabilities it has over the previous one, or how key features are different. - Self-evident things need unpacking
It is common that the Product Owner works on a topic for a long time before introducing it to the team, and gaining solid knowledge on it. Remember, in such a condition, the people you’re talking to probably lack your knowledge. So, you should use readily understandable terms. Try to unpack everything that can help people understand you better. Also, Avoid using jargon! - Summarize a question before you answer it
While people are trying to clarify the ambiguity, many questions are just headed to the speaker. In such a condition, repeating or summarizing the question for the entire group before answering, helps everyone better understand your answer. On the other hand, paraphrasing the question can help the speaker understand the exact point of the questioner. - Consider cultural differences
If you are dealing with peoples from different cultures, you should be aware of the ‘transmitter-oriented’ and ‘receiver-oriented’ cultures.
In most North American and European cultures, the responsibility of delivering the message or intention in a conversation totally falls on the speaker's shoulders.
In many Asian countries like South Korea, the responsibility of getting everything right through a conversation lies on the receiver.
Last Words
When you put your first step into the minefields and eventually come out in fine shape, you are no longer the same person. Now, people call you a hero! The ‘new normal’ has its uncertainties and the first step to deal with it is to ‘accept’ it and then get ‘adapt’ to it.
As mentioned above, the new scratches from the pandemic era on Product Owners can be summarized in the ‘improved communication skills’, ‘quality conversation’ and ‘precision’. Thanks to the COVID-19, these qualities can lead Product Owners to deliver future values to the world by working more efficiently with the surrounding environment and people.
