Case study · Leadership & people
Coaching a Product Owner Through Conflict
I helped a product owner strengthen a key working relationship with a senior commercial stakeholder through focused coaching and clear accountability.
The context
One of my product owners and a senior commercial stakeholder needed a stronger working relationship. The stakeholder wanted more visibility on how his requests were being handled, and the product owner was finding those conversations challenging.
The challenge
I needed to improve the working relationship without simply taking sides, while making clear that stakeholder management was an essential part of the product owner's role.
How I approached it
In a one-to-one conversation, I first listened to the product owner's perspective. I then set a clear expectation: improving this relationship was part of his responsibility as a product owner. I shared practical techniques for the situations the stakeholder had raised and checked that he understood how to apply them.
That same week, I met with the stakeholder to explain how product management worked and how his requests fitted into that approach. I then gave the product owner a development goal, with progress assessed through the stakeholder's feedback over time.
Two weeks later, I followed up with the product owner. I challenged him to compare what he had expected from the conversations with what had actually happened, and we role-played alternative approaches so he could identify more effective ways of handling conflict himself.
What it delivered
Within a few weeks, the collaboration had clearly improved, and the product owner took clear ownership of the relationship. Although I did not capture a specific quantitative outcome, stakeholder management became a confident part of how he worked.
Looking back
I learned that coaching through conflict requires both empathy and clarity. Listening first helped me understand the product owner’s perspective, but I also needed to be direct that managing the stakeholder relationship was part of his role. If I approached this again, I would define the development goal and feedback process earlier, so progress was explicit from the start.
I carry forward the principle that a product leader should not solve every difficult relationship on someone else’s behalf. My role is to create understanding on both sides, offer practical techniques, and then help the person reflect, practise, and take ownership. Lasting progress came when he found more effective approaches himself.