Challenge: One of the big challenges of getting a PO to adapt to their job position is to remind them that they have to let their old job position go.
We have some really talented staff members who are now POs. They are passionate about building the best product for the needs of the clients, but… there is always a but… they just cannot seem to throw the switch to go from their old job to this new one. They want the new one, but don’t want to let go of the old one.
Solution: Use a burn down of transition. That is, how many hours per week are they spending on non-PO work, and make sure that they are moving in the right direction of reducing those hours every sprint. No slipping.
If they cannot seem to progress in the right direction, or they are progressing too slowly, maybe they are not the right fit to be your organization’s new PO.
Remind them that PO work is hard and time consuming. Failure to support the team is failure to build a product, and support the company.
Brian By Experience 