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PO's Community of practice

Last post 07:36 pm December 27, 2021 by Daniel Wilhite
5 replies
07:19 am December 27, 2021

Hi

we are launching soon a community of practice for our Scrum PO's. we are looking for an inspirational lecturer for our kickoff event. I am looking for few ideas, content wise and guest lectureres wise. will appreciate if you can share your ideas

Thanks

Meital

 


05:03 pm December 27, 2021

How about approaching Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham as they are the authors of The Professional Product Owner book? 


06:08 pm December 27, 2021

we are launching soon a community of practice for our Scrum PO's

Expect those POs to be busy people. Participating in and contributing to a Community of Practice may be the first thing they ditch in their schedules, and despite your inspirational kick-off meeting, the CoP could soon die a death.

My advice is to think rather less about a kick-off, and more about how interest will be sustained. Is there a sense of urgency for this CoP to happen at all, and enough of a sense of shared common cause to keep it going? What purpose would the CoP actually serve? What is its remit, and what outcomes are expected of it? Why would POs need to contribute, and to keep coming back?


06:08 pm December 27, 2021

thank you Scott ! will check this option :)


06:33 pm December 27, 2021

Thank you Ian ! these are all valid and important comments and questions you raise. i do agree that the kickoff is very much secondary vs. major questions we need to ask ourselves and we did ask them prior to taking the decision of opening a CoP. there is a purpose the CoP can actually serve and there are several reasons for our PO's to take an active part, gain value and see the CoP actually answer their needs. we do wish our PO's will attend the kickoff so they'll be able to understand the CoP purpose and the value they can potentially gain. btw we can also have only internal presenters/speakers. I wonder what content can attract them these days....Thanks for your detailed and valuable answer ! 


07:36 pm December 27, 2021

I second @Ian Mitchell's statements.  I've worked at many places that have tried to create Communities of Practice for Product Owners, for Developers, for Scrum Masters.  They all start out great and then dissolve after a few meetings.  I have seen better luck in creating Communities of Practice for specific practices rather for job titles.  Developers are more interested in talking about and helping others with specific technology.  Product Owners may be more interested in a Community of Practice related to gathering requirements or communicating to external stakeholders than just being a Product Owner.  

I have never seen a long running Community of Practice.  They usually work to address some specific topics and then dissolve when that topic becomes less of a mystery. However, this is just my experience.  You may have better experience with it.

I'm also going to fall back on a standard response.   Have you asked your Product Owners what they would find inspirational? What kind of content they would like to discuss with their peers?  What kind of content they would value to have some "outside professional" interaction? 


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