Often, larger enterprises tend to treat the PO role as a ‘side job.’ So perhaps you are some senior person from the business, who has a full-time job in that business, but now you’re being asked to be a product owner for an agile team (perhaps due to the business expertise you’ve picked up).
In some companies, I’ve seen product owners who have have been co-located with their agile team, but still maintain a hierarchy of direct-reports from the business (not from their scrum teams).
Smaller companies seem to have a better mindset on this, and are more likely to go out and hire real, honest to goodness professional Product Owners…
Do your employers/clients believe that “Product Owner” is a real profession? What’s been your approach to coaching a Product Owner who also has a ‘day job’?