The job crafting efforts of product owners in an agile environment, a qualitative study.

Abstract

This study focuses on the challenge that product owners face in their daily jobs and how they use job crafting efforts to deal with those challenges. Five challenges are found: (1) working pressure, (2) lack of clarity, (3) communication, (4) organizational problems and (5) personal challenges. To deal with working pressure and communication challenges task, relational and cognitive crafting were used. Lack of clarity was dealt with via relational and cognitive crafting, organizational challenges were tackled via task and relational crafting and to deal with the personal challenges the product owners used task and cognitive crafting efforts. All challenges and crafting efforts were driven by the need for control, to stay connected to their role. Communication challenges are driven by the need for human connection too and to deal with personal challenges motivation also came from the need for a positive self-image.