A influência da comunicação remota e da multiplicidade de stakeholders na atuação do Product Owner em projetos de software

Abstract

The role of the Product Owner (PO) in agile software development is essential because this role encompasses several responsibilities, such as communication and alignment of expectations of the various stakeholders and participants involved in the product development. In an increasingly remote and complex world, these PO’s commitments become real challenges. This study, through mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) research, the difficulties encountered by Product Owners in remote communication and management of multiple stakeholders in software projects are investigated. To achieve this, an anonymous, open, and online questionnaire was targeted at Brazilian POs, which received 103 responses. A similar questionnaire was also targeted at Brazilian developers to capture their perspective on the PO’s problems in the areas of remote communication and multiple stakeholder management, resulting in a total of 29 responses. Following the data analysis, it was found that Brazilian POs use effective strategies to mitigate the intrinsic challenges of remote communication. Thus, as a contribution to the field of software project management, this study discusses how POs face real-world problems in management of multiple stakeholders, such as pressure in decision-making and difficult alignment of the product values and product vision oriented towards a variety of interests. The challenges encountered daily by POs are highlighted, and recommendations of practices and techniques to minimize them are compiled.