Years ago it was the norm for teams to work together in the same office. In close proximity. These days, teams work remotely, or partially remote.
The idea of “On‑Site Customer” was simple: put the right product owner or customer or end-user in proximity of the builders. Close enough so they could quickly shoot questions/answers and get clarity on things, ad-hoc.
This resulted in questions getting answered in seconds, and potential misunderstandings caught early.
These days, it’s less common to have an “on-site customer”. Which is fine, and just part of the evolving work environment.
However! There is a valuable piece missing. And that is, an understanding on how available the product owner / customer / end-user representative is available to the builder team on a day-to-day basis.
I encourage teams to be clear and explicit about assigning at least one person to be available during work hours to receive and try to answer questions from the builders quickly as they come up. Make it part of their job duty and work expectation.
If that individual doesn’t have the capacity to take on frequent questions through the day, then find someone else that can fulfil the role of “on-site customer”.
Discussions for your team
- Can we make someone representing the business or product owner available to collaborate with the builders?
- Who’s available and present to help with fast decisions?
- What is protocol amongst the team to surface new issues quickly?
- How can we create serendipitous information sharing in a distributed team?