Meena Venkataraman: Coaching Stakeholders and product owners, a critical aspect of the Scrum Master role

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In this episode, Meena shared her experience coaching a team where the Product Owner (PO) was hostile towards her. The PO had previously been a project manager with control over many aspects of the project, and had trouble adjusting to the new role in Agile. Meena observed that the team was using a mix of Scrum and Waterfall practices, and the PO was still using language like "resources" and moving team members around like Lego pieces.

Meena worked with the team to establish common vocabulary and practices through training and discussions, but found it challenging to help the PO understand the Agile approach. Meena emphasized the importance of working with early adopters in the team and coaching stakeholders outside of the team. Overall, the experience highlights the challenges of change management in Agile and the need for patience, education, and communication to help teams and stakeholders understand and adopt new practices.

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About Meena Venkataraman

Meena is an Agile & Lean coach who helps organizations and teams transition to Agile ways of working. She is passionate about the neuroscience behind team dynamics and is interested in organizational design and the application of Agile principles across different business domains. Meena enjoys speaking at conferences and is an avid learner.

You can link with Meena Venkataraman on LinkedIn.